Find Lunch:

Pichet Ong’s Qi Thai Now Open for Lunch

The lunchers of Midtown West just got another Thai restaurant with the opening of a Midtown branch of Qi (pronounced: “Chee”) Thai restaurant (8th Ave between 42nd and 43rd St). What’ll set this place apart from the original Qi Thai in Union Square, is that notable pâtisserie and restaurateur, Pichet Ong, will be the consulting Chef for the restaurant, and is hoping to focus the flavors on food from the Bangkok region of Thailand.

The early good news – the lunch prices seem more than fair, with everything falling comfortably under the $10 mark. And the restaurant space is exceptionally large for the area, ensuring enough seating to accommodate workday lunchers as well as the inevitable cadre of tourists. To get more of a preview, click through for the lunch menu and a shot of the interior.

7 Comments

This is a sister restaurant to the Qi on 14th Street. The food is alright there. Just typical American-Thai dishes, but liked the additional of other healthy fare such as 7-grain rice and salad options.

Just got back.. went there at 11:45 and it was completely empty. About 15 minutes after we ordered, someone came by to tell us the chef had only just arrived. It was over an hour before we got our food, although once it arrived it was quite well-received. If they can work out the whole opening on time thing, I’d definitely go back.

I think the stark designer look tips one off that this isn’t “authentic” Thai fare, but it’s pretty darn good, esp. for Times Square. The Thai iced tea was perfect, the corn/chive dumpling was meh…. I won’t be tempted to order again.

Panang curry was the the thickest & creamiest I’ve ever had, I think they used a lot of coconut creme & maybe whipped it. But it tasted fine, not too sweet with even a bit of heat. I won’t comment on the service since it was their first day open.
All 3 items come in under $10, good deal.